


Stars Shining Bright Above You

by sarahlu



Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: Doc loves his redheads what can I say?, Eugene centric, M/M, you've heard of gay panic now get ready for gay confusion!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2021-01-22 12:24:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21302024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarahlu/pseuds/sarahlu
Summary: In the midst of chaos, the hell they were living through, something shifts in Eugene.
Relationships: (doc/winters is one sided), Babe Heffron/Eugene Roe, Eugene Roe/Richard Winters
Comments: 4
Kudos: 34





	Stars Shining Bright Above You

**Author's Note:**

> hello hello helllo! a small thing, a quick thing that came together today. stems from some galaxy brain sessions that eli and i have had recently. follow me on my dumb tumblr: lieblinggs.tumblr.com
> 
> enjoy!!

It was the same but different; the same hair as bright as the sun, soul just as warm. One was the heat of a Georgia summer, omnipresent and at times uncomfortable. The other was a fire in the Ardennes, a bright spot that warmed him through and made him feel alive again.  
~  
He sees all the men at their most broken, but one seems to remain a paragon of strength and stability but it is Eugene who knows that he is still human, if only due to a small bullet ricochet. A man regarded almost as God himself was mortal and it is Eugene who had the privilege of witnessing it. He talks a nervous private out of hysterical blindness and is once again a God, Eugene’s God. 

Their fighting continues and Eugene does all he can to help the men. Running the company means Eugene can’t be around him as much as he desires. When he does though he notices something, something that should have been obvious. He is joined at the hip with their intelligence officer, heads always ducked close in quiet debate, smiles and private jokes exchanged. 

It churns Eugene’s stomach. He swallows the feelings and returns to his work, walls that already encased his heart fortifying themselves.  
~  
England brings new men waiting for them. Bright-eyed young paratroopers that were fresh from jump school. He was not looking forward to treating them. He keeps to himself, only letting himself be sought out never doing it himself. 

One day in August, in stumbles a new replacement with gangly limbs and an accent as thick as they come. 

“Doc, you uh, got anything for a hangover? Sergeant Guarnere said you were like some kinda medicine man in that regard?” He asks, his voice too fast, too anxious, but almost endearing to Eugene. He shakes that thought and helps the kid as best as he can. 

“Thanks, Doc, I’m Heffron by the way, Edward Heffron. Call me Babe though. Yeah, ok, so…” he finishes rambling and exists their aid station. Gene wants to curse himself for the smile he feels his lips curl into but he can’t.  
~  
Eugene jumps into Holland with second platoon and finds himself keeping an eye on the gangly replacement. He doesn’t like it. 

~  
“You are officers, you are grown-ups! You oughta know!” Eugene didn’t necessarily feel bad for snapping like he did, if he was being honest it had been building since they arrived in the country. They had to retreat and without proper supply lines, Eugene’s ability to help the men was being spread thin. 

He was there though, offering reassurance when he could but Eugene was beginning to hate him for it. It all felt like a bald-faced lie and yelling felt good. Yelling at two officers made him feel powerful, yelling at him made him feel something other than… whatever it was towards him he felt.

He gets promoted after that, and Eugene wonders bitterly how he managed that, the thought is fleeting though, he stops it before it plants negative feelings towards an otherwise admirable man. 

The gangly replacement is now a full-blown member of the company, and Eugene finds him in his orbit more and more when they stay put in France for longer than a week. 

Eugene stays tucked away in the aid station even though he now has help, another Philly man he comes to find out. The company seems to be rife with them. The gangle one strikes up a friendship with the other medic, spending hours in there since sergeant friend was still in the hospital. Eugene is surprised at how little he minds the extra company, how much he enjoys it even. The kid has good humor and a wide, easy smile Eugene has begun to look forward to seeing. 

He doesn’t smile, not like that, not around Eugene. They are smaller, more reserved, like the ones Eugene gives. The gangly one has a smile like sunshine that uplifts and enlivens Eugene, He is like a simmering bonfire with not quite enough warmth for Eugene to experience anymore. Both are beautiful to him though. 

~  
They have been in the forest, but Eugene couldn’t say for how long at that point. Death has become the daily standard; both men’s body’s and Eugene’s soul. 

Eugene is pushed to his breaking point, Bastogne takes everything from him, takes from everyone. 

Day and night, around the clock, shelling and fire fighting. Trees are blown to bits as easily as the men he loses because he has no goddamn supplies to save them. 

In the midst of chaos, the hell they were living through, something shifts in Eugene. The night they lose a replacement, the gangly kid is in his foxhole and all Eugene wants to do is protect him, like the man wished he could do for his friend. He offers him chocolate that the nurse with the healing touch gave him. 

His focus subconsciously shifts. He does his job and helps the men as best he can, but where he used to watch for him a little extra, he now does the same for the gangly man. And something almost unbelievable to Eugene happens; the gangly one watches for him too. He never did that, he kept his distance as he should. 

On Christmas Eve there is a bad shelling. Too many casualties for Eugene to handle. It’s all he can do to get Welsh into town that was also being blown to hell. He finds the nurse's headscarf amidst the rubble of the destroyed church. She had been one person who understood even the smallest iota of what he had to deal with. He would be grateful to her forever.

The early morning is quiet when Eugene returns to their position. He is curious when he sees a helmet sticking out of his foxhole. He hops in and settles next to the gangly man watching the line from their position. 

“Everything ok? Babe?” He asks and the man shakes his head. Eugene notices a deep cut across his palm and something beyond medic concern stirs in him, that he may be hurt and not telling him. 

“Hey, how’d you do that?” He asks, catching his hand in his.

“You did that.” is all he gets in reply. He says he’ll fix it up, but hesitates briefly when all he had is the headscarf. She would want to help in any way she could so he tears it and hopes the last shreds of her healing are put to use for him. 

“Hey Gene, you called me Babe.” He says excitedly. 

“I did? When?” He truly hadn’t realized he had. 

“Just now,” Babe said and Eugene contemplated it briefly. 

“Babe…” it sounded better than his name ever had on his lips. “Guess I did.” And Babe laughed, a musical sound to Eugene and gave him a smile that warmed him more than any fire ever could. It was a warmth that was comfortable, not stifling. Made him feel whole, not left wanting. 

“Baabee” the other man teased good-naturedly. Eugene did try to hold back his smile but failed. The moment succeeding in tearing down the wall around his protected heart. It pieced his soul together once more. There in the still, cold Christmas morning, Eugene found a new center. 

“Heffron, watch the goddamn line.” The laugh carried on again between the two as the sun came up.


End file.
